I'm a newly qualified EFL teacher having completed the CELTA course last month. I also have a bachelors and a masters degree in English linguistics.
I recently advertised online locally as a private tutor and a woman has got in touch by email wanting me to coach her towards sitting the IELTS exam - she needs to get a score of 6.5 or more.

Naturally, being my first teaching job, I'm terrified. Can anyone recommend any good student and teacher books which could guide me through planning my lessons and advise me on which route to take?

There is a ton of stuff on the Internet. Just Google IELTS. There is an IELTS site that tells you what the markers are looking for and you can train her towards the goals they set.

It is really important that she learn the details, especially in the writing. They are so picky and 6.5 is hard to get unless she is an advanced student already.

There are some good books - just check at Amazon. I used four or five and they all had different helpful tips. You might find some at your library or ask them to order one or two.

You can take a practice test on line. I would do as many as you can so she gets to know the format of the test. There are also practice tests in the back of the books. Timing is really important.

Start taking the listening tests by having her read the script and then listening to the tape and finally answering the questions. There is a pattern to the listening stories if you can find it. On the test itself, have her read the answers quickly before the tape starts or after she has answered a question, read the answers to the next question, because they will give her clues of the words she will hear.

Buy or get her to buy a Thesaurus because there is a great deal of word substitution in both the listening and writing. She will need to use as many versions of the words as she can, so it is good to memorize that book, back to front. They usually have them in the dollar stores.

There is some advice in other posts on Dave's. Just go to the search button above and type in IELTS.

Yeah, teaching IELTS first time is a bit scary and hard work in my opinion if you are going to do it well. I've been teaching it for quite a while now and have my resources together, then it's easy and I really enjoy it, and it's a very valuable skill to offer. Good books to help you find your way into the exams are 'Instant IELTS' which has a bunch of good exercises and tips and teacher support notes. It has general and academic. You'll learn a lot from it. Also you'll need a Cambridge practice test book. Get no 7 so it is up-to-date. As Sally Olsen said there is a lot of good help and advice on the Cambridge site.
Good luck.

I also enjoy teaching IELTS but it's important to assess the student's level before you choose any materials. I've had pre-intermediate level students who were aiming for a 6 or 6.5 and a lot of the material out there just wasn't suitable as it went completely over their heads.

One book I found helpful for low-level students is IELTS Foundation (published by Macmillan).